It’s the calf’s call
Labor, it is nothing new to beef cattle producers. Be it spring or fall, calving season brings with it a bucket load of challenges and needs from the cowherd.
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Livestock leasing good option for producers willing to share risk
These days, you can lease cars, machinery and places to live. But, what about beef cows? Absolutely.
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Dealing with cold stress in cattle
When temperatures plunge into the single digits and the winds howl, people pile on the outerwear and look for warm food and beverages to help ease the chill.
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Cow-calf corner: Assisting a newborn calf with acidosis
Glenn Selk tells us the best way to help a newborn calf that is having difficulty breathing.
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Feeder cattle review: Feeders sink lower
Due to feed and water shortages, producers have been selling cattle ahead of schedule for well over a year and many have now gotten down to those that are just about to be born.
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Early calvers add dollars
Eric Mousel, agricultural sciences department chair at Northwest Missouri State University, talks about the advantages early-calving heifers have over later calving counterparts.
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Don’t feed heifers like cows
Heifers are not cows, especially when it comes to their nutritional needs prior to breeding. The important difference between pre-breeding cows and heifers is that heifers are still using nutrients to grow and mature in addition to putting on body weight so that they can prepare for breeding.
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Most passive immunity occurs in the first 6 hours
Resistance to disease is greatly dependent on antibodies or immunoglobulins and can be either active or passive in origin.
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Write it down: Record keeping for the stocker producer
Most beef producers have heard the phrase “you can’t improve what you don’t measure” over and over again, but many producers still haven’t taken advantage of how record keeping can improve their profitability.
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U.S. hay production and supplies record low
Two years of drought have taken a huge toll on U.S. hay production. In the recently released USDA Annual Crop Production Summary, total U.S. hay production in 2012 was 120 million tons, down nearly 18 percent from the 2006-2010 average. This is the lowest U.S. hay production total in data going back to 1974.
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Animal well-being; Expanding the conversation
Taking on a timely topic is a good way to generate discussion, and Yvonne Thaxton has managed to do that in the short time that the Center for Food Animal Wellbeing has existed.
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